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Monday, August 31, 2015

Over the past years, the
Hyundai Elantra has quickly become
one of the most popular value cars on the market. With its combination of
quality and affordability, the Korean model easily stands against its
competitors in the compact segment.While its two-door option isn’t offered anymore, its recognizable
four-door configuration remains the same.

The 2016 Hyundai Elantra comes in four
different trim options: SE, Value Edition, Sport, and Limited. Manual
transmission comes standard for SE and Sport while all four trims have
automatic offered.

For those looking for a
extra power from the little guy, you might want to check out the tricked-out GT
version of the Elantra.

What’s New for the 2016 Hyundai Elantra?

Because the Hyundai Elantra will be
getting a next-generation redesign for the 2017 model year, this year’s model
hasn’t received much attention in the way of improvements. The Value Edition
trim is new, however, and it takes some of the features away from the SE
version. The Limited trim gets a bit nicer with standard keyless entry/ignition
and automatic climate control. The Sport version no longer touts leather seats.

Sunday, August 30, 2015

The next-generation Hyundai Elantra has been speculated
on and teased throughout this year. In March we got a leaked photo of a South
Korean-market Elantra, the
question being if this is was actually the new car and if we'd get in the US.
Then we got officially sanctioned sketches of the exterior and the interior.
Now Korean site Auto Tribune has leaked photos of the next Korean-market
Avante, which is our Elantra,
and they actually line up with the automaker sketches. According to Google
Translate, the pictures were taken at a Hyundai factory in South Korea
by a contractor.

If this is the real deal,
Fluidic Sculpture has given way to a grille that might want to at least send a
"Thank You" note to Audi. Flanking that are smoother lines and a more
subtle treatment of the front end, with sleek, pulled-back headlights decorated
with a lengthy LED signature above boomerang inlets in the bumper. The sides
have been flattened out, losing some of dimensionality of the current car to go
more mature. The rear end looks similar to the current sedan, but wider, with
long taillights featuring three LED elements.

Inside, a three-spoke
steering wheel veers toward the plain, and the current continuous waterfall
center console gives way to a two-section instrument panel that has an
eight-inch infotainment screen at the top, above HVAC controls. At the base
there's an open cubby that doesn't look to have a cover, and the gear selector
lever incline appears reduced. The overall impression is less engaging to the
eye than now.

Auto Tribune says a 1.6
liter GDI is under hood, which puts out 175 horsepower and 196 pound-feet of
torque in the 2016 Tucson. We'll see the real car at the LA Auto Show later
this year. Click through to Auto Tribune for more photos.

Saturday, August 29, 2015

Hyundai is set to take a step closer to offering genuine performance cars with a landmark display at next month's Frankfurt motor show.

The manufacturer will showcase its N sub-brand, Hyundai's answer to Subaru's STI, BMW's M Division and Mercedes-AMG that will offer genuine performance cars in the future.

Having established a test and development centre at the famed Nurburgring circuit in Germany, Hyundai says N will bring "performance oriented and race-track capable models forward", giving car enthusiasts another option to consider.

The brand has been caught testing high-performance versions of cars such as the Veloster Turbo, and has hinted at a successor to the front-engine, rear-drive Genesis coupe that rivals machines such as the Nissan 370Z in overseas markets.

Hyundai has not said which model will be the first to get the full N treatment.

Its stand at Frankfurt will include a preview of its next-generation i20 World Rally Championship contender, a wild Veloster hatch powered by a 220kW mid-mounted turbo engine and the Hyundai N 2025 Vision Gran Turismo, a futuristic concept that showcases how the ultimate Hyundai supercar could look.

Friday, August 28, 2015

Hyundai will be showcasing
its new high performance sub-division at the Frankfurt Motor Show in
September. A futuristic Gran Turismo concept and racy WRC car will preview hot
new road models in years to come.

The company claims to have
carried out intensive testing and product development to come up with Hyundai
‘N’, a sub-brand aimed at providing a cut-price alternative to the likes of BMW
M and Mercedes-AMG.

Hyundai’s prototype WRC car,
based on the new i20 Coupé, will appear on stage at the event giving us a good
idea on what’s to come, which according to Hyundai will be a full
“performance-orientated and race-track-capable” lineup.

Another debut at Frankfurt will be the ’N 2025
Vision Gran Turismo’. It’s a concept car that will be featured on PlayStation’s
Gran Turismo video game. It’s a move by Hyundai that is expected to
drum up lots of interest from a younger audience that could be future buyers of
the N performance models.

The third car to have a
place on Hyundai’s stall is the 2-seater RM15 Concept, a lightweight
mid-engined rear-wheel-drive car that uses a 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbocharged
petrol engine to produce 296 bhp. It’s effectively a heavily modified Veloster,
which was previous dropped by the firm due to slow sales.

This has all be aided by
ex-BMW M Chief Engineer Albert Biermann’s move to Hyundai earlier this year.
He’s now based in South Korea and responsible for Kia and Hyundai’s
high-performance models as well as the general improvement of ride, handling,
comfort and safety across the range.

It’s highly likely that the
i30 family hatchback will be the first car to receive the ‘N’ treatment, with
performance expected to rival the SEAT Leon Cupra and Ford Focus ST. This could
be as early as 2017, the the i20 N following shortly after.

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Hyundai has released the first
interior photo of the all-new Elantra ahead of the compact sedan’s world debut.

The image reveals a cabin
with a rather minimalist design, dominated by a large display on top of the
center console.

Compared to the current
model’s interior, there are far fewer buttons and switches, and the dashboard
has a more European-like design. The dashboard appears to have a two-tone
design – although that may be reserved for higher-end models.

Unfortunately, Hyundai did not release any
information along with the photo, so we’ll have to wait a little longer for
details regarding standard features, materials and technologies. Actually, besides
the teaser photos shown so far, Hyundai has kept the new Elantra tightly under wraps.

On the mechanical side,
rumor has it that the new Elantra
will be offered with a 175hp 1.6-liter T-GDi engine mated to Hyundai’s new
seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox. We should know that for sure in the coming
weeks as we get closer to the car’s debut – most likely to happen at the
Frankfurt Motor Show next month.

Hyundai's ambitious plans to offer more green cars than any other maker except Toyota may have tilted slightly toward electric cars.

At least, that is, if a tip from a source close to the company is to be believed.

According to the report, Hyundai has decided that it will offer an all-electric "AE" version of its forthcoming dedicated "Prius fighter," a high-tailed and aerodynamically efficient hatchback, before the end of next year.

Hyundai declined to comment on that assertion. Today, it sells only a single plug-in vehicle: the 2016 Hyundai Sonata Plug-In Hybrid, with an electric range of 24 miles.

In an interview this past January, we had learned that the company will launch a dedicated design, not shared with any existing Hyundai model, that can accommodate a variety of different efficient powertrains.

Ki-Sang Lee, a senior vice president and head of Hyundai's R&D Center for "eco-friendly vehicles," told Green Car Reports that the platform Hyundai will use for the dedicated hybrid can also be used for both plug-in hybrids and battery-electric vehicles--with just minor changes to the exterior.

"For electric cars," he said, "we feel a battery must deliver up to 200 or 300 kilometers (124 to 186 miles) of range," though he said those were largely for "use as city cars."

"We are also preparing higher-capacity batteries," he added. "Perhaps we will offer optional systems that provide more range, but they will come at a higher price."

That would seem to indicate a vehicle that could compete head-to-head with the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV, which GM CEO Mary Barra said in January will provide 200 miles of battery range and carry a base price of $37,500 before incentives.

It would also compete with the second-generation Nissan Leaf, expected for the 2017 or 2018 model year, and very likely a longer-range battery-electric vehicle from BMW as well.

Hyundai's sister company presently offers the Kia Soul EV, with an EPA-rated range of 93 miles, in California.

That electric tall wagon has been more successful than expected, Kia has said, and it is working to boost production and offer the Soul EV in more regions.

Kia, however, refuses to release sales figures for the Soul EV, so there is no way to verify its claims or assess the Soul EV's sales performance against other electric cars.

Hyundai was expected to launch the "Prius fighter," which shares some elements of its underpinnings with the next Elantra subcompact sedan, later this year. That would put it on sale as a 2016 model.

Now it appears that Hyundai plans to launch the battery-electric version of that car within a year of that date.

Our source couldn't tell us whether the two cars will appear simultaneously, or which one would come first if not.

Given the imminent launch of the 2016 Toyota Prius, however, it's not inconceivable that Hyundai may have decided to pair its own dedicated hybrid with an all-electric alternative model to offer a unique selling point.

That would be a vehicle that Toyota can't compete with, because it has no plans to offer any battery-electric vehicles in the U.S.

Toyota will offer a plug-in hybrid model of the new fourth-generation Prius, with a lag of roughly a year after the standard hybrid model, that could offer an electric range as high as 30 miles--if our information is accurate.

The Hyundai Prius-fighter will have a plug-in hybrid model too, at some point. But Toyota has no plans for a battery-only Prius, meaning Hyundai could steal a march on the Japanese maker by offering all three variants.

So while Toyota trumpets its new Prius, expected to offer a 55-mpg combined EPA fuel efficiency rating, Hyundai could claim entirely different bragging rights.

If Hyundai could get an all-electric "AE" hatchback into at least some dealers before the Bolt EV or second-generation Nissan launches, it would offer the longest-range electric car that isn't a Tesla.

That might prove more appealing than attempting to go head-to-head with industry giant Toyota, which has sold more than 8 million hybrids globally and pretty much defines the image of hybrid vehicles in the U.S.

We did get one additional piece of information, however: The Hyundai "AE" electric hatchback will require 8 hours for a full battery recharge.

The Kia Soul EV has a 6.6-kilowatt onboard charger, and we'd expect Hyundai to use the same component--which suggests to us that the "AE" has a fairly large battery pack, perhaps 40 to 50 kilowatt-hours.

Scaling up directly from the Soul EV's range of 93 miles from 27 kWh, the Hyundai "AE" could be rated at 155 miles from a 45-kWh pack. But the better aerodynamics of a lower, less blocky hatchback might boost that number by 10 percent or more.

2015 Hyundai Sonata 2.4 Limited2015 Hyundai Sonata 2.4 Limited

With Hyundai's price positioning--slightly lower than its mass-market competitors--that could make the new and so-far unnamed Hyundai electric car a very interesting new entry indeed.

Green Car Reports reached out to Hyundai to ask about the "AE" electric-car plan.

"We do not comment on future product plans," said Chris Hosford, the executive director of corporate communications at Hyundai Motor America.

That's a standard response from any automaker to questions about future products, existing or not, that it doesn't want to discuss.

"We have said for some time that we will have an all-electric vehicle that will go on sale within the next several years," Hosford continued.

"But [we] have not made any comments on that vehicle beyond that," he said, "and we have not offered a specific year when such a vehicle would go on sale."

The company is aware of "spyshots" of vehicles purported to be prototypes of the hatchback "Prius beater" that have been photographed testing in multiple U.S. locations, Hosford said.

Hyundai has "no comment on the vehicles, or the allegations that they represent future Hyundai products," he concluded.

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

TAMPA, Fla., Aug. 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- On Tuesday, August 25, St. Joseph's Children's Hospital will recognize Hyundai Motor America and Hyundai Hope On Wheels as the single largest donor to its children's oncology program by naming the second floor of a new patient wing the Hyundai Hope Unit.

"With their most recent gift of $50,000, the Suncoast Hyundai Dealers and Hyundai's Hope On Wheels program have contributed nearly $1 million to St. Joseph's Children's Hospital, improving the lives of children and families in the Tampa Bay area," said Kimberly Guy, president of St. Joseph's Children's Hospital. "We are proud to be associated with a partner so committed to ending childhood cancer."

Through their Hope On Wheels program, Hyundai has been helping children fight this disease by funding life-saving research and innovative treatments since 1998.

St. Joseph's Children's Hospital is well known throughout the Southeast as a referral center for children's cancer and blood diseases. In the Hyundai Hope Unit, specially trained pediatric oncology doctors and nurses will provide around-the-clock care to children battling cancer and other blood disorders. Patients also will benefit from the hospital's breadth of pediatric subspecialty resources, including intensivists, neurologists, orthopedists, diagnostic imaging specialists, pathologists, and child life specialists.

Comprised of 22 private inpatient rooms, the Hyundai Hope Unit is part of St. Joseph's Children's Hospital's $50 million, multi-year building plan to care for kids from newborns to teenagers - today, and for generations to come. The new patient wing is a three-story renovation of a building adjacent to St. Joseph's Children's Hospital. The Hyundai Hope Unit opens to patients on August 25, and the new patient wing is expected to be completed by the end of 2015.

Media may park in circular drive in front of St. Joseph's Children's Hospital

HYUNDAI HOPE ON WHEELS

Hyundai Hope On Wheels® is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is committed to finding a cure for childhood cancer. Launched in 1998, Hyundai Hope On Wheels provides grants to eligible institutions nationwide that are pursuing life-saving research and innovative treatments for the disease. Primary funding for Hyundai Hope On Wheels comes from Hyundai Motor America and its more than 800 U.S. dealers. At the end of its 17th year, Hyundai Hope On Wheels will award more than $100 million towards childhood cancer research in pursuit of a cure.

For more information about Hyundai Hope On Wheels, please visit www.hyundaihopeonwheels.org. Follow the organization on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram at Facebook.com/HyundaiHopeOnWheels, Twitter.com/HopeOnWheels or Instagram.com/HyundaiHopeOnWheels.

HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA

Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Fountain Valley, Calif., is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co. of Korea. Hyundai vehicles are distributed throughout the United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced through more than 820 dealerships nationwide. All Hyundai vehicles sold in the U.S. are covered by the Hyundai Assurance program, which includes the 5-year/60,000-mile fully transferable new vehicle limited warranty, Hyundai's 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain limited warranty, and five years of complimentary Roadside Assistance. Hyundai Assurance includes Assurance Connected Care that provides owners of Hyundai models equipped with the Hyundai Blue Link telematics system with proactive safety and car care services complimentary for three years. These services include Automatic Collision Notification, Enhanced Roadside Assistance, Vehicle Diagnostic Alert, Monthly Vehicle Health Report and in-vehicle service scheduling.

As Tampa's only dedicated children's hospital, St. Joseph's Children's Hospital is committed to providing everything needed for the health and well-being of children. Part of the BayCare Health System, St. Joseph's Children's Hospital provides more acute medical and surgical pediatric care than all other hospitals in Hillsborough County. From the tiniest baby to the high school quarterback, patients are cared for by doctors who specialize in treating children, in surroundings designed exclusively for kids.

ST. JOSEPH'S CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION

St. Joseph's Children's Hospital Foundation inspires the community to engage in philanthropic investment in children's health at St. Joseph's Children's Hospital. The hospital has earned a reputation for pediatric excellence that attracts families from across our region and beyond. The 186-bed facility is home to a medical staff of nearly 200 physicians with nearly 80 pediatric specialists, representing almost every major pediatric sub-specialty. St. Joseph's Children's Hospital provides more acute medical and surgical pediatric care than all other hospitals in Hillsborough County and is one of the largest children's hospitals in Florida.